Why??

2.4 mile swim, 112m on a bike followed by a 26.2 mile marathon. Usually when I explain this to people who don't know what Ironman is, their reply is, "why?"

It's a good question. Why would anyone want to do this? Why would someone want to push themselves to their physical and mental limits? Why go through the pain of training and competing? Why risk failure?

So why am I doing this?

I didn't really know much about Ironman until the event came to Tenby. Over the years I have seen friends and others local to the area I know compete and quite frankly I was jealous. I looked at them and thought "I will never be able to do that." 4 or 5 years ago, this statement was accurate for my physical condition. I had become quite overweight, had a lazy lifestyle with little to no exercise and a poor diet (I say poor, what I really mean is shocking!)
It was after my first son was born that I took a long hard look at myself. I wasn't happy with what I saw. So, I joined a gym and began trying to get fit. Problem was I didn't know what I was doing and my diet wasn't any better I'd head to the gym them come home and have a curry. Brilliant! I lost some weight but after three years I hadn't got very far.
After our honeymoon in 2013, I went to a fitness boot camp which was brilliant! Not only were the workout sessions awesome, but it came with a step by step eating plan. This did the trick. I lost a lot of weight and my fitness levels are now the best they have ever been (still a long way off Ironman standard). So my first answer to why is fitness.
But surely there are less ridiculous ways to get fit other than an Ironman?

Since becoming obsessed with fitness and training, and it has become an obsession, I have entered a lot of running or multisport races. Only short ones, usually a 10k, half marathon or sprint triathlon, but each time I cross the finish line I feel such a buzz. I want to sign up for another race right there and then. The sense of achievement I get from completing a race is such a great feeling. Made even better knowing how far I have come and where I have come from. So to be able to achieve Ironman status would be immense! So my second answer is achievement.

Usually when I enter a race, friends and family come to watch. This is amazing. Last year I ran the Westonbirt and Tenby 10k runs. Lucie and the boys were there to watch them both. To see Madoc clapping and cheering in the crowd was just one of the best feelings and really did boost my energy levels and confidence. I hope to complete the Ironman in a year and a half's time, and every time I'm out training I have one image in my mind which really drives my on: I picture myself running down the home straight on the seafront of my home town; I can see my family in the crowd cheering, Lucie and the boys helping to get me over the finish line. I'll be so proud of myself if I complete this race, but I really hope to make my family proud more. So my third answer is Pride.

As I have mentioned in other posts, Rhys and I like to sign up for stuff just because it sounds different, it's something new or just for a laugh. But the main reason we sign up for things is we both like a challenge. A prime example of this is when we signed up for Wiggle Mountain Mayhem, a 24 mountain bike race. We were completely out of our depth in this event, but I think we signed up because the prospect of a 24hr race got us curious. It was different, something cool to say we have done, a challenge. The Ironman provides a similar curiosity. It's not just a regular triathlon - which is tough enough - it's a beast of a triathlon. The ultimate challenge. It's held the attention of Rhys and myself for years and now its going to become a reality. So my fourth answer is challenge.

I think for me, the biggest reason for why I'm doing this is: I want to see if I can do it. I have tried my hand at many things during my life but have never really excelled in anything. When I was younger I played basketball at a competitive level. I was not the best player by a long way, I wasn't even that good but I loved the game and loved playing it. Since taking up triathlon disciplines, I have found something else that I love doing. I'm not the best at it but I love it. However, this time I want to see if I can go somewhere with it, I want to see if I can do what I never believed  I could do. I want to see if I can push myself further than I have before. I want to prove to myself that I can accomplish anything if I put my mind to it. So my final answer is to see if I can.

For me these reasons are worth the pain of the intense training to come, the sacrifices which will have to be made, and the monumental effort to cross that finish line. Roll on 2016!

Review of the week (Bit late!) and the week ahead

Last week started well with a good gym session on Monday (19th Jan) which involved: 15minutes sprint intervals on the treadmill, followed by 40 minutes of high intensity cardio and weight training.
Tuesday's run didn't happen unfortunately, due to work, a 5 a side tournament,  poorly children and if I'm honest it was bloody cold!
Wednesday was back to the pool for a swim coach session. In total approximately 1700 metres was covered through various drills. I need to try and fit more sessions in to practise the techniques learnt in these sessions.
Thursday and a return to the Gym. Again, high intensity cardio and weight exercises was the main focus.
Friday I was meant to return to the pool while my son had his swimming lesson. This plan was scuppered when my school's 5 a side football team won their first tournament on Tuesday (20th Jan) which was great. The problem was, this put them through to the finals which were on, you guessed it, Friday evening. So the swim didn't happen, but a big well done to the team from my school for getting to the finals!
Saturday is where it all went wrong and the reason why my post is so late. Last week I was very pleased indeed to avoid the horrible sickness bug which made Lucie, Madoc and Ioan very poorly indeed. Alas, I could not evade this bug entirely. Whilst travelling back from visiting Lucie's family on Saturday evening, I became very aware I need to get to a toilet and quick! So it was foot down, get home asap, and... well I won't go into the gory details but I wasn't well.
This wiped me out for Sunday and Monday and I only got my appetite back on Tuesday so there was no more training for that week.

As for the week ahead, well we are already half way through it. Today is Wednesday 28th January and I started training again with this weeks swim coaching session. It was a great session tonight, involving the use of my new fins and pull buoy which I really enjoy using.

As for the rest of the week, this is the plan:

Thursday 29th: Gym session
Friday 30th: Early morning run and evening swim
Saturday 31st: Early morning run
Sunday: Rest

Fingers crossed nothing gets in the way!

Why?

We've briefly touched on how we started this whole thing but why we're continuing with it, is just as if not more interesting. I'm only speaking for myself here as Dan may want to chime in with his tuppence worth at a later date.

Firstly, its probably down to some sort of pride and not wanting to back down from a challenge. Not that I never bail on something tough but I hate to do so. However I've seen Back to The Future 2 and 3, and just doing something to keep up with Jones' (Or The Evans' in this case) is never a solid enough reason. So there must be more.

I'm doing this for fitness, as I'm not always the healthiest of chaps,diet and exercise wise. Since starting back at training over last few months, I've lost around two stone and I am feeling generally better about myself. Having a crazy goal means I have to work for it, if I'm not scared I'll not train. Still along way to go though, as I did eat Pizzas on at least 5 days of last week.

I just want to be able to say I did it, and to prove to myself that I can. It may impress some folk but the main response so far is "You're nuts. Why?" Plus there is always mortality breathing down your neck, if not now,when? I'm not getting any younger

And the idea just got stuck in the mind, why not do it? What's stopping me? Nothing but me, and I don't let me tell myself what he can and can't do. (That may explain a lot actually)

I find it so Zen. People have asked me what I think about on the longer races. Not much, there are some sums to work out how far I've come,how far I've got to go and yes some motivational cussing. A lot of the time, its just me on autopilot,mind off, legs engaged, its a very physical meditation.

Finally its actually kind of fun. You can all remind me of this when I'm whining in a few months time but there is something enjoyable about just using your body in an athletic manner. no matter how slow or unwieldy that body is. Remember scampering around as a kid, just enjoying being alive. Sometimes on a really good day, you recapture a bit of that joie de vivre.

Surely that's worth all the blisters, chafed nipples, water in the ear and saddles sores. Well it is for me.

Week in Review and Week to come: Week Beginning 26th of January.

I must say I've had a surprisingly awesome week. I changed roles at work, which so far has not gone down in a pile of flaming detritus, I hosted a sell out Improv show, I went boozing,I went to the ballet and I also did some training but I must admit once again I have not met my targets.

So this week:

Monday: I squashed to get the old ticker going.
Tuesday: 5 miles of Hills in about 54 Minutes.
Wednesday: 8 Miles of Hills in 83 Minutes
Thursday: I knew I'd have to change my plans here as I had a podcast to record for a mate at 6, so I packed my kit to run on Friday morning instead.
Friday: I did not run in the morning, as we probably all could have predicted. I didn't in the evening as I had hosting to do.
Saturday: I may have stayed in the pub a tad long on Friday and only had time to go to town to pay in some cash and fix a fence before hitting the social scene of Sheffield again.
Sunday: I went to the Gym, I aimed for 1/2 marathon distance, I made it 12k. I may have to institute a no pub before long run rule. You'd think that'd be obvious wouldn't you.

This week I don't have high hopes for:

Monday: I'm going to go Swimming. I have no distance planned, just need to get back in the water and my usual Squash Partner is on holiday.
Tuesday: 5 more Miles of Hills
Wednesday: My Social Calendar is currently empty so I'm going to try and move the weekend run to here, 19 Miles. (I think its been a while since I did double digit miles, Oh dear.)
Thursday: 5 More Miles of Hills
Friday: 5 Miles on Treadmill (In Morning)\
Weekend: Go away for the weekend.

I think Wednesday and Friday are going to be big asks.

Last Year's Results

Its always a good idea to know what you're up against so Saturday afternoon while I awaited the Washing Machine to either finally break or start working again, I thought I'd check out the actual results for last years IRONMAN Wales. (You can find the details here).

(I was going to work out some very tenuous percentages for this article to see what percentage of people do Ironman and how many complete. And I may do that later but as I start to do so I realised how incredibly fortunate I am to be even contemplating doing Ironman from a physical, financial and situational positions.)

Last year 2085 people entered Ironman Wales. So far I know 1 person who has signed up for an ironman distance race officially, and going by my Facebook page I know about 350 people. So let's say about 0.3% of people sign up.

So by signing up you are already 3 in a 1000. However looking at these results not everyone started and certainly not everyone finished.  Of the 2085 entrants, 445 either didn't start or did not finish. Only 1640/2086 finished, that's around 79%. So people who enter and finish Ironmans are 47 in every 20,000, that's 0.235%. So we're up against the odds already. However both me and Dan are stubborn, so let's assume our sheer bloody mindedness and terror will allow us to be on the 0.235%, how are our precdicted times going to hold up.



The winning time was

0:51:54

05:03:29

03:04:44

09:07:28

That's under 52 minutes to swim 2.4 miles, 112 Miles on Bike in just over 5 hours, and a Marathon in just over 3 hours.
Average speed of the winner, Matt Trautman. Congratulations Matt.

2.8mph Swim,22.4mph bike and 8.8mph run.

Let's compare that to me and Dan's predictions:

Rhys: 1.6 mph Swim 14.94mph bike  4.37 mph run
Dan:   1.6 mph Swim 18.67 mph bike 4.03mph

So with our predictions, we aint going to win. Quelle Suprise. But where will we come if we do as well as we hope. (I've left the DNF/DNS in for this, without the figures will skew higher, as I can't work out how to remove them easily)

The Median Swim speed is 1.75mph
The Median Bike speed is 16.61mph
The Media Run speed is 5.86mph
Median Total Time 14 hr 5min 55 secs.

Going by these figures, neither of us will be in the top 50% of the pack but remember just finishing puts us in the top 0.235%. Even just signing up will put us in the top 0.3%.

If you've any comments or have better maths to apply to this, please do so in the comment box below.

Review of The Week

Question: should you put trainers in a tumble dryer?

Answer: NOOOOO!

But out of this act of  stupidity came...new shoes!


After a few weeks of training with these I'll review them but for now the focus is the week just gone and the week ahead.

Overall, training this week has gone well; still nowhere near the level needed for Ironman but definite progress from week one. Out of the three disciplines of a triathlon, swimming concerns me the most so at the start of November 2014, I started attending Gloucester Triathlon club swim coaching sessions on a Wednesday evening. I won't go into the details of the sessions on this post so all I'll say is: I was right to seek help. This week was my first visit to the pool for five weeks and it really showed. On Monday 12th January, my son had his first swimming lesson since before Christmas (due to a chicken pox epidemic in the Evans household) and I used this time to begin my swim training for 2015. I covered 1km in the half hour I had which isn't a great distance, but due to only one lane being open and a wide range of swimming abilities on show it was difficult to get a decent, constant pace going. Despite this, it was good to get back in the pool.

Tuesday 13th January was the day to start breaking in my new running shoes. Blisters were predicted, but after a decent 10k run, taking 47 minutes, my feet felt fine.

Wednesday 14th January (happy birthday mum!) was my first swim coaching session since mid December. I felt I was making good progress before Christmas so I was both eager and anxious about this one. The standard of swimmers there is very high and having not been for a while I was worried my level had dropped right back.
After several hundred metres in warm ups and drills the swim coach told my group (of 4 people) we were doing a time trial this week. Two of us would time while the others swam 500metres as fast as they could then swap. 100metre splits were recorded along with the total time. Now, the last time I did this distance at pace was at the Cheltenham sprint triathlon in September 2014. The time I recorded there was just over 13 minutes. Not great. My total time for this trial was 11mins 33sec. Although there is still improvements to be made I was really happy with this time.

Thursday 15th was a rest day, so apart from a little 5 a side coaching at work, nothing strenuous was done.

Friday 15th January I donned the new shoes for their second break-in run. In total I covered 7.3 miles in 56mins 43sec. Again, my feet felt fine at the end. I enjoyed this run and felt comfortable throughout and felt I could have gone on further so I am looking forward to upping my distances next week.

Unfortunately things didn't go to plan on the weekend . On Friday night, son number two developed a sickness bug and was quite sick. He then passed this on to his mother, who was rough on Saturday. Despite this we still managed to take the kids to the Gruffalo's Child trail at Westonbirt Arboretum which was lovely and I'm really glad Lucie managed to come as I didn't think she'd make it. However, on return from our trek, said sickness bug had passed onto son number one. And boy was he sick! Seeing as three out of the four Evans' had been struck down I though it was only a matter of time before it hit me too. Luckily for me, Sunday came and there was no sign of me having to pray to the porcelain god, good times. So the plan was to head to the gym as was Rhys'. However, by some strange coincidence we both had the same alternative plan for the day. I had been given a brewery tour for a birthday present last year and its was time to use it. Rhys then told me he too was going beer tasting in the afternoon. So there was only one thing for it; we made a 'team' decision: Sunday was a write off.

The week ahead:

Monday - gym or run
Tuesday - gym or run
Wednesday - Swim coaching session
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Swim
Sat - Long Run
Sun - Rest

Well that's the plan anyway.

Dan

Week in Review and Week to Come. Sunday the 18th of January 2015

A quick update on how this week's been going. Did I manage to do what I planned?

Monday: I played Squash, so tick that off.
Tuesday: I ran my 5 Miles, tick that off.
Wednesday: Slight change of plan, I ran 5 miles rather than 8, so not a tick BUT...
Thursday: I ran the 8 miles today instead of yesterday, so tick for Wedsnesday and Thursday.
Friday: I managed to do nothing, another tick.
Saturday: Nope
Sunday: Nope.

So once again I've failed on my long run. I'm blaming this on its cold, so not headingoutside, treadmilling for this distance is a tad dull. Mainly though laziness, and a beer tasting event this Sunday. So moving on from this, what's planned for the coming week

Monday: Squash
Tuesday: 5 Miles Running
Wednesday: 8 Miles Running
Thursday: 5 Miles Running
Friday: No Training
Saturday & Sunday:  Half Marathon Distance.

Let's see how this goes.

Predictions and Expectations

Rhys' Predictions

As we begin this endeavour, I've a few worries about what's to come but I'm saving those for another post. This will deal with my expectations of the process and the race.

Let's get it out of the way now, I fully expect Dan to trounce me on the IRONMAN. However, I always say these endurance events are about beating yourself and the course, not your mates. (Be Prepared for me to fully retract that last statement at any point that I overtake Dan at anything).

Time wise for the Ironman, I've done a bit of research and found these Average Split Times, which has got me bricking it. I've a feeling I'll be below average and its going to be hilly. So here's my predictions:

Swim: 90 Minutes
Bike:  7.5 Hours
Marathon: 6 Hours
Transition: 20 Mins (That's a long transition)
Grand Total: 15 hrs 20 minutes (1hr 40minutes to spare)

As for the process, I'm expecting to have to sacrifice something to get all the training I'll need in. And I may have to start going for early morning swims, which as anyone who knows me will vouch, I'm not a morning person. Also expecting to lose some more weight then plop it back on as Muscle, as I'm just starting to look at the nutrition side. But at least for tonight, it's pizza.

Dan's Predictions

The more I research IRONMAN and what it takes to compete, the more anxieties and doubts I have. But as Rhys mentioned above, these worries deserve a post of their own at a later date.

So what about my expectations for the race and the training process involved? Well, I'll start by agreeing and disagreeing with Rhys. I agree, it is important to run your own race; focus on achieving your personal goals and not to worry about the other competitors. However, I disagree with Rhys' prediction that I am going to 'trounce' him. I can assure you there will be no 'trouncing' involved. My belief is that when the race day comes, Rhys and I will be starting on a par and if I'm honest, my main hope for the event is that we both finish. That being said, It's still a race and myself and Rhys are fairly competitive people so place your bets!

As for a rough prediction of times, I too have done a fair amount of research into this. The cut off times for each discipline have got me a little worried to say the least and knowing how hilly the course is, I'll be happy just to complete the race in one piece. So this is what I'm aiming for:


Swim: 90 minutes
There is a 1km run from the swim to the transition with one nasty hill, so this will add 5-7 minutes.

Bike: 6 Hours (I'm being ambitious here)

Marathon: 6.5 hours

Transition: 15 Minutes

My Grand Total: 14hrs 20mins

To be honest, even if I finish at 16 hours 59 minutes I'll be over the moon.


On to the process leading up to IRONMAN. Rhys said it earlier, sacrifices will have to be made if we are to have any chance of success. The ridiculously early morning training is becoming a distinct possibility and like my teammate, I'm not so good in the mornings. Also, a few tweaks in diet and nutrition is a must to get the best out of my training. Alongside all of this, is how to cover the cost of all the equipment needed. A lot to think about, so one step at a time seems the best approach. After all, 21 months is plenty of time....right?

The Week In Review, And The Week to come. January 12th 2015

After having avoided any exercise since late November, this was the week where it all began again. Currently I'm concentrating on just my running, as I've a Marathon in Wrexham on the 8th of March. So maybe I went into this week with too big plans but we'll see. I'm using a slightly modified version of Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide , which can be found here, http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51138/Marathon-Novice-2-Training-Program and I totally recommend it. So the week as was: Monday: I did no training but I did go back to the work after the Christmas break so I;l let myself off. Tuesday: Did 4 Miles of Hill Training.Took just under 44 minutes Wednesday: Did 8 Miles, on an easy gradient, this took about 90 minutes. Thursday and Friday: I went to the pub Saturday: Here was where my big plans and slovenly lifestyle bit me in the arse. I'd intended to run 17 miles (27.5k) but made the mistake of spending the morning reading comics and then heading out to train without eating. Big Mistake. Got to the 12.5k mark and had to give up. I then had chips and a sausage roll so well done me. Sunday: Big bag of nothing. My training plan only had 3 sessions this week, so full marks for attendance, 2/3 for attainment.

Plans for the week ahead:
 Monday: 40 Minutes of Squash
Tuesday: 5 Miles Running
Wednesday:8 Miles Running
Thursday: 5 Miles Running
 Friday: Nothing
Saturday: 18 Miles (With food this time)
Sunday: Nothing

A start...kind of!

After two weeks of complete relaxing, no holds barred eating and much alcohol it was back to training and decent food this week. I use the phrase 'back to training' loosely as it was a fairly gentle start. Total exercise for this week was: two 10k runs, a 10k cycle and two high intensity body weight workouts in the gym. Some may say that this is a decent amount for a week but to put it into some perspective, preparing for an ironman can involve 15-20 hours training. My total for this week....4!
Not a great start, but a start nonetheless.
However, starting training this week finally brought about an opportunity to use my new Christmas present! Seeing my wife before the holidays deliberating on a present; order one; find a better deal once the original order had arrived; deliberate some more; order the better deal and send the original order back had me intrigued to say the least. This mission of a present turned out to be a Garmin Forerunner 310XT. A multisport GPS training device with premium heart rate monitor (yes that is straight off the box!). Awesome! Couldn't have asked for a better present and I couldn't be more grateful. After spending the majority of the remaining holiday reading the users manual and setting up a Garmin Connect account to log my progress online, I was eager to get out and use it.
So, Monday 5th January, first run of the year and debut outing for my new gadget (I love gadgets!). 10k covered but if I'm honest the relaxing over the break had taken its toll. There is no other way to put it, I really struggled! "Don't worry, long way to go," is the message I kept, and will still keep on saying, to myself. The GPS however was great. Setting a virtual partner to run against is a really nice feature (my partner was set at a fairly modest pace for a much needed confidence boost!). The heart rate monitor produced accurate read outs throughout and the wireless transfer of data to my computer is fantastic and a great way to analyse my progress. I'm really looking forward to exploring what else this device can do, especially as it is a multisport device and can be used for cycling and swimming, handy for the mother of all triathlons.
Anyway, back to the training. After run 1 a gym session came next (Wednesday 7th Jan). Here I focussed on high intensity cardio exercise. Not to much to say on this really apart from things that were easy before Christmas were not so easy this week. To say I was aching the next day is an understatement. Another rest day followed after this then came run 2.
Again I stuck with the 10k distance and was relieved to find that the 'struggling' experienced in run 1 had subsided.....a bit! The GPS again was excellent. This time I switched on the auto-stop function, which stops the timer any time I stop. Very handy when having to wait for traffic to pass to cross a road. On return, I was happy to see improvements between the two runs when looking at the data on my computer.
Next came the cycle and it was tough. This is an area I will really need to focus on over the next year and a half. A bike might be a good place to start!
The final Gym session of the week was another high intensity cardio session which again caused much aching and this time a touch of nausea!

I said to myself that the purpose of this week would be to ease gently back into training and exercise. When I had a text message from Rhys around lunch time on Saturday saying, and I quote: "I'm off to run 17 miles this afternoon." One word came to mind....bugger!

IN THE BEGINNING

21 months to go! Worrying! Yes the Evans-Howell team are signing up for another ludicrous event in which we will be completely out of our depths. But first, I believe the origin of the Evans-Howell team deserves a little explanation.

2003, Newport university, South Wales, Evans met Howell. A friendship was then built on beer and mischief. We took part in many team building exercises such as: re-positioning of furniture (fencing ‘borrowed’ and placed outside annoying neighbours door); acquisition of a much wanted Mr Frosty; the taping up and blocking of several more doors; the collecting and freezing of beer dregs (SO WRONG); adopting random cats; engagement ring shopping and even attempting to write a highly controversial sit-com involving Kriss Akabusi!

As time went on, we turned our attentions to more challenging events such as sprint triathlons and a 24 hour mountain bike race which caused nothing but pain!

Rhys and I have both taken up running over the last few years and have taken part in several races individually, however we felt the time was right to re-unite the team and embark on another ridiculous challenge.

The idea of us doing an Ironman first developed 3 or 4 years ago when Rhys and I went out for a few drinks. The original plan for the evening was to discuss ways of how I could propose to my girlfriend (now wife). The proposal ideas started well, but became a little OTT so the conversation moved on to Ironman.  Both of us agreed that we would take on and complete the Ironman Wales event by the time we were 40.

 Eventually we both realised that by the time we were 40, we would more than likely be in no fit state to compete so we changed the age to 35.  We didn’t really talk about Ironman again much after this until early September 2014 when I took part in another sprint triathlon. It was after this that I text Rhys with the words “Ironman 2016, you in?” I had no doubt what his reply would be: “Yep, sounds good”.

So here we are. January 2015, still feeling the effects of the Christmas festivities and about to embark on a seemingly impossible challenge for two men who like to sign up for things for a laugh!  

In the words of my fellow blogger ....... BRING IT ON!    

Dan.

In the beginning

 I don't know how your 2015 began but early on in mine I received a text from Dan saying "happy new year. Only 21 Months to go." I groaned and didn't reply for a further 7 hours, my response below will explain the reason for the delay. "Since I've been Hungover since 2014. That does not bode well". Its already the 2nd by this point by the way (Hangs head in shame). And so it began, or at least this time in earnest. What's began? Only another brilliant plan by the Evans Howell team. Me and Dan have set ourselves the challenge to complete the IRONMAN WALES in Tenby in 2016, which is about 21 months away. Bring it On. This may have been a huge mistake.